The early light crept through the frosted windows of the Apex Council's east conference wing, spilling across polished marble and scattering gold hues over Lin Feng's tablet. He sat quietly, unmoving, surrounded by pages of structural reform drafts and notes from the last three council meetings. His black shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, coffee growing cold beside him. He had slept little—too much had shifted overnight.
Keller had regrouped. Not publicly. Not with fanfare or retaliation—but with silence, subtle reinforcements, and new hands emerging in places where Lin thought the ground was steady. The international news outlets—especially those with rumored backing from Keller's media shell—had begun to spin ambiguous stories around Lin Feng's tightening circle of influence. Whispers of "centralized control," "youthful authoritarianism," and "Apex's rising technocratic dominance" were seeping into global panels and op-eds.
But Lin Feng didn't panic. He adapted.
